Glasgow or London?

Neither city is a place for a beach vacation, but London comes out a little ahead. Glasgow's coast is the Firth of Clyde, where Largs, Troon and Ayr are an hour away by train. The water is cold even in high summer, so a trip there is a promenade walk with fish and chips rather than a swim.

From London, Brighton's pebble beach and the sandier shores at Margate and Whitstable are about as far, and the Channel is a few degrees warmer. More importantly, London has places to swim in the city itself, with outdoor lidos at Brockwell Park and Parliament Hill and the Hampstead Heath ponds. Glasgow has nothing to match them.

Both cities cook mainly other people's food, and both are strong on South Asian cooking. Glasgow has its curry houses, which claim a hand in inventing chicken tikka masala. Its Italian families shaped the cafés and chip shops, and Finnieston and the South Side are where to find modern Scottish cooking and good neighbourhood places. Fine dining is thin, though, and the centre is full of chains.

London goes much further. Bangladeshi cooking in Brick Lane, Punjabi food in Southall, Turkish grills in Green Lanes and Caribbean kitchens south of the river sit alongside a large fine-dining scene. Borough Market and the weekend markets in old yards and railway arches make eating a sightseeing activity in itself.

London is in another league for sightseeing. The British Museum, the National Gallery, the V&A and Tate Modern would each anchor a trip on their own. The Tower of London, Westminster Abbey and St Paul's give it famous landmarks from every century, and Greenwich adds the Royal Observatory.

Glasgow's appeal is more focused. It is a handsome Victorian city of red and blond sandstone, with Kelvingrove and the Burrell Collection as its great museums and Charles Rennie Mackintosh's buildings as its signature. The cathedral and the Necropolis on the hill behind it are the oldest layer. Two or three days cover it well, while London rewards a week and still leaves plenty unseen.

Glasgow's nights are compact and intense. Friendly, loud pubs start the evening early, and the Merchant City, Sauchiehall Street and Ashton Lane are close together. The basement techno and house nights have a reputation across Europe. Clubs close around 3am, so the night burns hard and finishes.

London has more of everything, spread across districts with their own character. Soho is the dense, late centre, Shoreditch and Dalston have the warehouse parties, and Brixton and Peckham have rooftop bars and big venues. A handful of large clubs run until morning. The trade-off is distance: getting between scenes takes planning, and quieter areas go to bed early.

Glasgow has real wild country within reach. Loch Lomond is about 40 minutes away, with Ben Lomond and Conic Hill above the water, and the Trossachs lie just beyond. The West Highland Way starts in Milngavie on the city's edge, and the ferry to Arran opens up proper mountain walking around Goatfell.

London is greener inside the city: the royal parks, the views from Hampstead Heath and the deer in Richmond Park all beat Glasgow's city parks. Beyond the edge, though, the Chilterns and the South Downs are gentle chalk and beechwood country with no mountains, pleasant rather than dramatic.

Glasgow has one outstanding trip in Edinburgh, under an hour by train. Behind it come Stirling Castle, Linlithgow Palace, the mill village of New Lanark and the island of Bute by ferry, a good list that leans towards Scottish history and coastline.

London's rail network reaches much more of England. Oxford and Cambridge are about an hour away, Windsor Castle is closer still, and Bath, Stonehenge with Salisbury, and Canterbury are all straightforward days out. Because the places are so different from each other, a week can include several trips that each feel like something new.

Glasgow has a smaller but good list for children. The Riverside Museum's trams and tall ship, the Spitfire in Kelvingrove and the Glasgow Science Centre will fill a few days. It has no zoo, aquarium or theme park, though. With frequent rain and steep central streets, you need to plan indoor days and keep off the hills with a buggy.

London gives children far more to do. The dinosaur halls at the Natural History Museum, the hands-on Science Museum, ZSL London Zoo and the pirate ship in the Diana Memorial Playground are all in the city, and Legoland Windsor and the Harry Potter studio tour are within reach outside it. The catch is crowds when schools are out, and Tube stations where the only way down is stairs, so buses are often easier with a buggy.

London's transport is more complete. The Underground, the Elizabeth line, the Overground, buses and Thames riverboats all take one contactless card, and a visitor never needs a car. The trade-off is size: crossing between outer neighbourhoods takes time, and the Tube is packed and hot at rush hour.

Glasgow is smaller, so the grid-planned centre, the Merchant City and much of the West End can be done mostly on foot. Its Subway is a single small loop, though, and the buses are run by several companies with separate fares, which can confuse a visitor. Suburban trains handle the South Side and the coast.

Glasgow is Scotland's best city for shopping. Buchanan, Sauchiehall and Argyle Streets form a pedestrian loop of high street names. Princes Square and the Argyll Arcade add Victorian arcades, and Byres Road is good for vintage clothes and bookshops. The Barras gives a rougher weekend market, but there is little at the luxury end.

London covers every level. It has the luxury houses of Bond Street, bespoke tailoring on Savile Row, and Harrods, Liberty and Fortnum & Mason as sights in their own right. Portobello Road, Columbia Road's flower market and the shops of Spitalfields and Seven Dials make it a city to browse for days.

Glasgow is clearly the cheaper stay. Hotel rooms cost well below London's, although they jump when a big concert or match is on. Curry houses and pub lunches keep the daily spend down, and the bill that grows is rail fares for day trips.

In London, central rooms are among the costliest in Europe and small for the money, and theatre seats and rounds of drinks add up quickly. Both cities soften the cost the same way, with free entry to their major museums, but in London you have to stay further out and eat at markets to keep the budget under control.

For bands, Glasgow holds its own. The Barrowland Ballroom and the small rooms where famous groups played their first gigs give it one of Britain's best circuits, and Celtic Connections brings folk and traditional music to the city each winter. Scottish Opera, Scottish Ballet and two national orchestras mean classical music is well covered too.

London still comes out well ahead overall. The West End and the National Theatre, the Globe, the Royal Court and the pub-fringe stages make it one of the two great theatre cities in the world. Add the Royal Opera House, five major orchestras, the Wigmore Hall and the BBC Proms at the Royal Albert Hall, and every night offers more choice than you can use.

Neither city is somewhere to go to unwind, but London gives you more ways to do it. Its surviving Turkish baths in Bayswater and at Ironmonger Row are open to the public, with steam rooms and plunge pools under tiled vaults. The grand hotels of Mayfair have full spas, and the thermal waters of Bath are an easy train ride away.

Glasgow's Victorian swimming clubs in the West End are among the oldest in the world, but they are mainly for members, so a visitor is left with hotel and day spas. Here the better way to slow down is a day out by the lochs.